Robert Hutchens is a professor in Cornell's Department of Economics. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1976, specializing in labor economics, public finance, and econometrics. He has written several papers on the economics of government transfer programs, with an emphasis on social security, unemployment insurance and Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Over the past few years his research has focused on long-term implicit contracts and on employer policy toward older workers. He recently completed a survey of employers that examines employer policies toward phased retirement. He has served as a Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution, as an Associate Editor at the Industrial and Labor Relations Review, and as Chairman of the Department of Labor Economics.

He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in September 2002.